Doctor basically laughed me off after my highway crash — now I can't take a deep breath without wincing
I've been driving since I was 16 and never had so much as a fender bender. That streak ended last week and I'm still kind of in shock about it.
I was heading home late on the interstate — light traffic, nothing unusual. A pickup truck came barreling up behind me way faster than the flow of traffic and basically tailgated me for a second before swerving around. I moved over to give him space. Then out of nowhere he drifts back into my lane like I wasn't even there. We were both doing highway speeds when he clipped the front corner of my car.
My car whipped sideways, I hit the median barrier, and the airbags went off. The whole thing probably lasted four seconds but it felt like a movie in slow motion. I somehow walked away and — stupidly, I know — waved off the paramedics at the scene because I felt almost nothing in the moment. Adrenaline is wild.
Fast forward to the next morning: I've got bruising across my chest from the seatbelt, my neck is stiff as a board, and every time I try to take a full breath it feels like something is catching. I went to an urgent care clinic and the provider barely looked at me. When I mentioned the chest pain and difficult breathing he basically told me I was probably just sore and anxious. Ordered zero imaging for my chest. Sent me home with ibuprofen.
Something feels genuinely wrong. I'm not a hypochondriac. Has anyone else been brushed off like this after a crash? Do I push for an ER visit or a different doctor? And does refusing care at the scene hurt me if I end up needing to make a claim?